Electrostatic mirror chromatic aberration (Cc) correctors, according to the present disclosure, comprise an electrostatic electron mirror that itself comprises a multipole. The electrostatic electron mirror is positioned within the corrector such that, when the corrector is in use, an electron beam passing through the corrector is not incident on the electrostatic electron mirror along the optical axis of the mirror. The mirror object distance of the electrostatic mirror is equal to the mirror image distance of the electrostatic mirror, and the electrostatic mirror is configured such that the electrostatic mirror applies no dispersion or coma aberration to the electron beam. The multipole is positioned in the mirror plane of the electrostatic electron mirror, and in some embodiments the multipole is a quadrupole.

Electrostatic mirror chromatic aberration (Cc) correctors, according to the present disclosure, comprise an electrostatic electron mirror that itself comprises a multipole. The electrostatic electron mirror is positioned within the corrector such that, when the corrector is in use, an electron beam passing through the corrector is not incident on the electrostatic electron mirror along the optical axis of the mirror. The mirror object distance of the electrostatic mirror is equal to the mirror image distance of the electrostatic mirror, and the electrostatic mirror is configured such that the electrostatic mirror applies no dispersion or coma aberration to the electron beam. The multipole is positioned in the mirror plane of the electrostatic electron mirror, and in some embodiments the multipole is a quadrupole.

The system described herein relates to a gas feed device having a first precursor reservoir that receives a first precursor and having a second precursor reservoir that receives a second precursor, a feed unit that feeds a gaseous state of the first precursor and/or a gaseous state of the second precursor onto a surface of an object. A first line device is arranged between the first precursor reservoir and the feed unit. A second line device is arranged between the second precursor reservoir and the feed unit. A first valve is arranged between the first line device and the feed unit. A second valve is arranged between the second line device and the feed unit. A control valve for the feed of the gaseous state of the first precursor and/or the gaseous state of the second precursor is connected to the first valve, the second valve and the feed unit.

A method includes: providing position data for a plurality of areas on the sample which are to be inspected; providing a first raster arrangement of the plurality of individual particle beams, with a single field of view on the sample assigned to each individual particle beam; defining the position of a nominal scanning area in each single field of view in relation to the first raster arrangement, with the dimensions of the nominal scanning area smaller than the complete single field of view; determining an individual position deviation between a nominal scanning area and the area to be inspected for the at least one individual particle beam; changing the first raster arrangement based on the determined individual position deviation to produce a second raster arrangement of the plurality of individual particle beams; and area-wise scanning the sample using the plurality of individual particle beams in the second raster arrangement.

A method includes: providing position data for a plurality of areas on the sample which are to be inspected; providing a first raster arrangement of the plurality of individual particle beams, with a single field of view on the sample assigned to each individual particle beam; defining the position of a nominal scanning area in each single field of view in relation to the first raster arrangement, with the dimensions of the nominal scanning area smaller than the complete single field of view; determining an individual position deviation between a nominal scanning area and the area to be inspected for the at least one individual particle beam; changing the first raster arrangement based on the determined individual position deviation to produce a second raster arrangement of the plurality of individual particle beams; and area-wise scanning the sample using the plurality of individual particle beams in the second raster arrangement.

A scanning transmission electron microscope that scans a specimen with an electron probe to acquire an image. The scanning transmission electron microscope includes: an optical system which includes a condenser lens and an objective lens; an imaging device which is arranged on a back focal plane or a plane conjugate to the back focal plane of the objective lens and which is capable of photographing a Ronchigram; and a control unit which performs adjustment of the optical system. The control unit is configured or programed to: acquire an image of a change in a Ronchigram that is attributable to a change in a relative positional relationship between the specimen and the electron probe; and determine a center of the Ronchigram based on the image of the change in the Ronchigram.

A particle beam system includes a multiple beam particle source to generate a multiplicity of charged individual particle beams, and a multi-pole lens sequence with first and second multi-pole lens arrays. The particle beam system also includes a controller to control the multi-pole lenses of the multi-pole lens sequence so related groups of multi-pole lenses of the multi-pole lens sequence through which the same individual particle beam passes in each case altogether exert an individually adjustable and focussing effect on the respective individual particle beam passing therethrough.

A particle beam system includes a multiple beam particle source to generate a multiplicity of charged individual particle beams, and a multi-pole lens sequence with first and second multi-pole lens arrays. The particle beam system also includes a controller to control the multi-pole lenses of the multi-pole lens sequence so related groups of multi-pole lenses of the multi-pole lens sequence through which the same individual particle beam passes in each case altogether exert an individually adjustable and focussing effect on the respective individual particle beam passing therethrough.

A charged particle optical system includes an aberration corrector 209 that corrects aberration of a charged particle beam and has multipoles of a plurality of stages. The aberration corrector generates a plurality of multipole fields in a superimposed manner for each of the multipoles of the plurality of stages in order to correct the aberration of the charged particle beam. In order to reduce the influence of a parasitic field due to distortion of the multipole, for a first multipole field to be generated in a multipole of any stage among the plurality of stages, a value of a predetermined correction voltage or correction current to be applied to a plurality of poles for generating the first multipole field is corrected so as to eliminate movement of an observation image obtained based on electrons detected from a detector 215 by irradiating a sample with the charged particle beam before and after the first multipole field is generated.

A charged particle optical system includes an aberration corrector 209 that corrects aberration of a charged particle beam and has multipoles of a plurality of stages. The aberration corrector generates a plurality of multipole fields in a superimposed manner for each of the multipoles of the plurality of stages in order to correct the aberration of the charged particle beam. In order to reduce the influence of a parasitic field due to distortion of the multipole, for a first multipole field to be generated in a multipole of any stage among the plurality of stages, a value of a predetermined correction voltage or correction current to be applied to a plurality of poles for generating the first multipole field is corrected so as to eliminate movement of an observation image obtained based on electrons detected from a detector 215 by irradiating a sample with the charged particle beam before and after the first multipole field is generated.